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Private schools affected by public education funding crisis

TULSA -- Private schools may be in session, but they are still affected by the state funding crisis.

Many private institutions base their pay off public schools, so they are keeping a close eye on what is happening at the Capitol.

Chief Financial Officer for Cascia Hall Karen Tennery said, “Generally in the past, we have followed the tps salary scale, but that’s generally just a guideline. We’re not bound by that as a policy.”

Teachers at Cascia Hall, a private school in Tulsa, make the same salary as teachers in Tulsa Public Schools. Tennery said, “That’s not always the case, but there are other private schools that do that.”

The CFO says it keeps an even playing field for teachers. And although Cascia teachers get paid roughly the same amount as Tulsa Public School teachers, one of the big differences is accessibility to resources.

Tennery said, “We try to provide the resources in the classrooms that they need. We try to provide the equipment that they need, the textbooks, the other resources. I think that’s one of the other things the public school teachers have said that they need, and I think we do provide those.”

Schools like Cascia Hall are keeping a close eye on what’s happening to state funding to possibly take the lead of TPS financially.

Tennery explained, “We are talking about what our plans are going to be. We haven’t finalized those, but we are discussing that with our teachers. We’re keeping them informed. We’re letting them know that we are concerned. That we want to do the best for them.”